The Mistress, Part Two

by Lexie Ray

  “That doesn’t mean much to me – all I know is what Lucas told me,” she sighed with great irritation.

  “What Lucas told you. Precisely. There is no proof that this boy hurt him. If it happened on campus, we have video cameras in every wing of the school and on the yards; we also have teachers patrolling constantly. If it had happened here, we’d know about it, and there would be proof – but you’re saying it happened off campus. I’m not saying this is what happened – but what’s stopping Lucas from being jealous of Darren and concocting all of this upon his own imagination? That’s what I would be asked!” He finished his rant with a lot of heat, and it was obvious that they weren’t getting their way on this. At least it was obvious to Haley; she wasn’t so sure about Marissa.

  “Are you kidding me, William? That’s bullshit!” she argued, standing up.

  “I might ask for you to lower your voice and cut out the profanity.” He was becoming more intolerable by the second. She could tell he was doing it on purpose.

  “Well, Lucas won’t go here anymore then. After this year, he will not attend here. School’s almost out, so I won’t do anything yet – but next year, I will assure you he’ll be at a new school,” she concluded with a smile. She started to make her way towards the door.

  He didn’t know what to say. Haley could tell. Preston and Marissa had given loads of donations to the school, and she knew that he was likely thinking about that. “That’s a bit rash, don’t you think?” he began before she could leave. “He’ll be in his final year here.”

  “Not at all. You’re a school system. If you aren’t going to protect him, I’ll put him somewhere that will,” and with that she pounded out of the door, and Haley was just on her heels. She was equally frustrated, though she hadn’t spoken, and she alerted him to such by flipping him off as she left the office.

  ~~~

  Well, turned out that meeting hadn’t gone as well as expected, but Haley knew that Lucas wouldn’t mind switching schools. He hated his school, and if it hadn’t been for Darren’s sister, he probably wouldn’t have ever gone. And he had his cell phone to stay in touch with her. Childhood love never lasted, but she would only hope Marissa would allow him to continue with the relationship, for however long it might last.

  After they left the school they drove in silence. Marissa was driving, as Haley had met her at the house so that they could go together. “When we get to the house, I want you to wait so that you can tell the kids you love them but you have to go away for a little while, Haley. I’m not wanting to be rude or mean, but I still need time to collect my thoughts. I want to take care of Lucas and Sophie first, and deal with the rest of this when it’s time. I care for you, and if you need anything, let me know. In the meantime, though. I don’t want you contacting Lucas or Sophie, and I don’t want you at the bakery. Thank you for what you did for Lucas, but I think it’s time for us to part ways for a while. It may not be forever, but I don’t know that…” Marissa spoke and Haley just listened with a heart full of sorrow. She wasn’t shocked, but she was upset all over again. She should have known it wasn’t going to be as simple as that. She should have known.

  But, she did as Marissa requested. She waited inside for the kids to get home so that she could give them a proper goodbye. The beautiful little blonde girl was first up, as she ran excitedly through the foyer and into the living room. “Haley!” she called with enthusiasm, as she had so many days before. She missed the sweet sound of the little girl’s voice.

  Not missing a beat, Sophie threw herself into Haley’s arms and held on tightly. Haley wondered if the little girl missed her too; by the feel of the hug, she would guess she had. She looked behind Sophie, her tears welling up, and saw Lucas standing in the entryway of the living room. His gaze was on her as well.

  “Come here, Lucas,” Haley said sadly, motioning for him to sit down beside her. She positioned Sophie on her lap, and Lucas came over as he was told. “I need to talk to you guys.” She was nearly crying now. But she had to keep strong, had to leave the tears in.

  “You’re leaving…” Lucas said quietly as he looked down at his fingers.

  “Yes. For a while,” Marissa responded, and Sophie grabbed her tighter in response, looping her arms around her neck.

  “You just came back!” Sophie cried out. The little girl was the only one that didn’t know what happened. Bless her little innocent heart… Just as Haley had feared, the kids were getting the short end of the stick in all of it – and it was all her fault.

  “I know, sweetie. But I came back to tell you ‘bye,’ before I left for longer. I wanted to give you a goodbye hug!” Haley tried to pep talk the child, who was now beginning to cry. Lucas made a grab at his sister, using his best effort to remove her from Haley’s neck.

  “I love you both. I want you to know that. Nothing that I have done and nothing that I do has anything to do with you. I love you more than I can ever say,” Haley reassured them, struggling not to cry. That was all she remembered before giving each of them a final hug. She left the house, and her memory was vague as to what happened from the time she left to the time she reached her bedroom.

  She fell, face first, into the mattress and finally let her tears go. She was finally able to cry freely. She loved those kids, and she hated herself for giving Marissa no choice. She hated herself for screwing up, and she hated herself for making them hurt. Even Lucas had cried as she left, and she thought he hated her for the moment. Obviously, he didn’t. He didn’t say he loved her back, like his sister had, but he cried and hugged her in return.

  Chapter 9

  After a long night of sadness for herself and her children, Marissa was exhausted. The kids missed Haley, and were sad at her departure from their lives. She wasn’t sure if she could ever allow her back into their lives; she didn’t know if she wanted to forgive her. She told Haley to tell them goodbye, and she was glad that they had the opportunity to do so. It may not have been forever, but it was important that they knew how much they meant to her.

  Marissa knew that nothing she did was a reflection on her feelings for them. She did wonder though, if she loved them quite as much as she thought she did – or if she loved her as much as she thought she did. She knew she was apologetic and remorseful for what she had done, but she wasn’t sure if she could continue giving more than she received from people – especially when she didn’t have to.

  Haley wasn’t her blood relation; she was her employee. She didn’t have to keep giving. She could take away – and she had. She felt like she had to. At least for a while. Her eyes stung a bit. She was sad. There was no denying that. She had had an emotional roller coaster of a life recently.

  Her husband had slept with one of her best friends – someone she deemed family. Her son was being bullied, and the one person to save him and to help him get away from the abuse was Haley – said friend. Her daughter was confused. She wanted to know where her daddy was and why Haley had to go away. The school wouldn’t do anything about Lucas’s attacks. And to top it off, she was discovering a world of unknown mysteries involving her husband.

  He had hit on her sister when they had been newlyweds. He had allegedly sexually harassed employees. She wasn’t even sure she knew who he was.

  “Why don’t you go home?” Joseph asked as he appeared from behind her.

  “No. I need to be out of the house. I can’t handle all of this stress when I’m home,” she said as she raised herself up off the countertop. All of a sudden, Joseph’s phone started to ring. It never rang at work, and as she assumed he was curious, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. She didn’t say anything, but she noticed who it was.

  It was Preston. Why was he calling Joseph? Better yet, how the hell did he even have his number? She would inquire later, but thought best than to do so currently. She watched as he shut turn his phone’s screen off and put it back into his pocket. How curious.

  She watched him with said curiosity throughout th
e remainder of the day. He seemed odd; he was off almost completely. He hadn’t reared his flamboyant side the entire day, nor had he paid any particularly large amount of attention to what she said. She had to repeat herself constantly.

  Though he wasn’t always the most reliable of workers – occasionally being late and forgetting little details, he rarely missed an opportunity to talk. His mouth ran constantly on any usual day – but this day, it was different. He was quiet. He was reserved. He seemed like any other man in the world. Not the upbeat genuine happy-go-lucky type of man she had known him as.

  He continued his odd behavior until they were cleaning up after closing. She looked at him as he scrubbed the same bowl for five minutes, and she sighed in frustration. She couldn’t handle it if he was going to be different than she thought all of a sudden. He was the only constant in life. He was the only thing not causing a disappointing annoyance in her life. Now, he was being weird, and she was disappointed and annoyed.

  “What’s your deal today, anyway?” she finally asked, fed up.

  “Excuse me?” he asked, and almost seemed a little offended.

  “I mean, you’re not really listening to anything I say and you’re not upbeat at all – not like usual,” she replied.

  “A man can’t have an off day without something being crazy wrong?” he spat back.

  “With you? No.” She was determined to get some sort of answer out of him.

  He grumbled and slammed down the bowl he had been washing before making to walk away towards the swinging door, but she was right on his heels. She wasn’t giving up. “You’ve been acting really strange lately, and I want to know why!” she yelled, pulling at his arm so that he wouldn’t leave the kitchen.

  “I have some stuff going on – and I’ll talk to you about it all, I promise, but I have to figure out how to come out with it,” he said quietly. It reassured her, yes, but part of her wanted to know desperately what it was. However, she knew that she had no right to hold claim on his secrets. He wasn’t hers to put claim on; though in that moment, looking into his pleading puppy-dog brown eyes – she wished he was.

  She hadn’t felt it before – or maybe she had, but was too blind to notice – but there was something about him that she didn’t want to resist anymore. She trailed her hands softly down his oddly smooth arms. He had such baby soft skin; it awed her, if she was being honest. She didn’t know why she was surprised, though.

  Joseph had always given a lot of thought to and put in a lot of time into his appearance. Of course he moisturized. As she smoothed her fingertips over his arms, she caused goosebumps to form all over his flesh like a road, a road to the unknown.

  She got on her tip toes, which was funny to her. Marissa wasn’t really a short woman, and Joseph wasn’t particularly tall – but she still had to stand on her toes to meet his lips. She took them with her own, and she felt him tense up, but she didn’t care – she kept going.

  She traced her tongue over his bottom lip, begging – with all her vulnerability – for entrance. She assumed she just wanted entrance into his mouth, but once their lips met she wondered if she might have been aching for a less literal entrance, entrance to his heart as well. It scared her a bit, because she knew that’s what happened on her first date with Preston. She could only hope that this wouldn’t end as poorly – but at the moment, part of her didn’t care – because it felt too good to stop.

  To say sparks flew when their lips met would be ridiculous, but that doesn’t mean that she didn’t feel something. She felt something, all right. Something big. She wasn’t quite sure what it was, but she was fueled by it.

  A force of nature willed their mouths open to make the kiss more passionate. Marissa had to admit, the kiss felt more real than she had thought it would. She thought it nothing more than a rebound encounter between friends that would be forgiven and forgotten the next morning, to be honest. As she slipped her tongue into the unknown territory of Joseph, she knew that her initial expectations were wrong.

  She reveled in how wrong she was, actually, and enjoyed every minute of the shocking jolts of passionate electricity vibrating through her body. It happened every time her tongue made contact with his. She felt his hands begin to explore his body, as if they were trying to learn it. She moaned into his mouth, and he grunted in return.

  She allowed her hands to reciprocate his movements and explore his body as well. She wanted to take full advantage of the situation. She had always thought Joseph was attractive, and she may not get a chance to explore this unknown yet beautiful terrain again. She was going to seize the opportunity at its finest.

  She grabbed at his muscular chest and found herself lusting after him even more. It was well defined and masculine. With her eyes closed and his strong hands running over her every inch, she could have sworn she was kissing an alpha male, much like you would see in the movie 300. He was built, strong – and in this moment, she almost had completely forgotten it was Joseph.

  As she began to fantasize about fucking him she felt his hands grab her hips roughly and rest there. She began to concentrate on the fiery kiss of the moment, the kiss that caused her breath to run short. She was sure that if she had been standing, her feet would quake beneath her, betray her and cause her to fall to the floor with a thud.

  She felt as though she was floating above all else; if the universe had a tip, she would have been above it in that moment. They broke for air, and she felt her eyes glisten as they looked into his. She smiled, but it quickly faded when she saw the confusion lace over his face. She wondered, though, if it was just confusion. It looked like something else. It looked like regret.

  She began to speak, but he shushed her. “I can’t do this,” he said before pulling away from her waist. “I care about you too much to do this while you’re vulnerable.”

  “I can take care of myself,” she spat back, a little offended that he would suggest otherwise.

  “I know you can. It isn’t you. It’s me,” he replied, lamely.

  “What the hell does that even mean?” she demanded.

  “I want more than a one night stand slash rebound. I want you. The real you.” It seemed to be a confession, and she was a little shocked – but not greatly. He had once upon a time hit on her, and she knew that he found her attractive. What she didn’t know, however, was that he wanted her. Still. After all they had been through.

  “How do you know that’s not what I want? There’s only one way to find out,” she continued before grabbing him again.

  “Yeah, by going slow.” He tensed, moving away from her.

  Instead of letting him go, she got up from the counter and went towards him once again – a black widow stalking her prey. She was serious. He wasn’t getting away from this. She rubbed his crotch softly at first, and wrapped one of her long legs around his waist so that he would have to grab her. She grabbed his cock through his pants, and he hissed in return.

  “Wait...” Joseph trailed, breathless. His eyes were desperate as he pleaded with her, but she wouldn’t hear of it.

  “No... I need you,” Marissa breathed, pulling him closer in equal desperation. Her hands explored his clothed body, hoping with everything she had that the fibers would disappear beneath her touch. She couldn’t believe that she had harbored such sexual desire for this man. Hell, she thought he was gay when she first met him, but God was he hot – and he was there for her. She couldn’t quite trust her instinct on how great of a guy he was, because honestly she’d married a narcissistic sociopath. Her instincts obviously weren’t attuned to normal standards.

  “We can’t,” Joseph replied sternly, pulling away from her. “We just can’t…”

  His voice, though stern, was filled with doubt. She could tell that he wanted her and that he was experiencing some sort of inner battle. But she didn’t have time for it all. She knew what she wanted, and she was going to pry until she got her way.

  “Why not?” Her eyelashes fluttered at him sensually as her hand made
its way to his groin. It moved in deliberate circular patterns across the growing bulge in his black cashmere pants. A groan escaped his lips accidentally, and his eyes squeezed shut as he lifted his hips off of the table in a – dare she think it? – bucking motion.

  “Because, I need you more...” he said through an exasperated sigh. It was as though he was admitting a secret he had been holding onto for dear life. It was as if he’d just opened up a piece of his soul.

  His words floored her, and he knew it. When she didn’t reply, he leaned down and kissed her – sweetly at first, and then much more passionately and eagerly. She moaned when his tongue snaked inside her mouth and gasped when he grasped at her sides and flipped her over. He sat up, leaning against the countertop, and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She stared at him and took in the very sight of him before taking control and kissing him once again.

  She was lost in a blissful feeling of rebellion. She loved the feeling of his tongue swirling with hers. She couldn’t believe it – this was Joseph. Joseph! She had always thought he was an attractive man, but she didn’t think she was ever attracted to him. Not until now. Now, things were different. Now, Marissa’s dark side had come out to play – and from the groans escaping from the back of his throat, Joseph’s had done the same.

  She was taken aback and pulled from the passionately involved kiss. She looked at him, his breath heavily leaving his body as his lips were parted seductively. His hair was a mess and his face was flush. She felt incredibly sexy and wanted; a man who wasn’t her husband stood before her, completely aware of her presence – her sexual presence, and he wanted her completely.

  They fell together, and she pinned him down without mercy. She tore his clothes as she pulled them off with an excited aggression. Her dirty, flour-coated hands dug into his shoulder, and she bit his lips instead of kissing him. These were her terms; this was her fantasy. She drew blood, and the iron-tasting liquid tickled her taste buds as it dripped over her lips and into her mouth – she wanted more, it wasn’t enough.